I haven’t posted one of these in a while. As a refresher, monthly I participate in a writing group where we pull a prompt from an envelope (yes, the old fashioned way) and write for 30 minutes. Then we read to each other what we wrote. I used to freeze like a rabbit in a hawk’s shadow whenever anyone said, “Let’s write to a prompt now!” In that chirpy voice that made it sound like…fun. It wasn’t. But thanks to this monthly exercise, I’m getting to the point where I don’t freeze. I may not write scintillating prose, but at least I write. So without further ado…

“Code”

Morse code, computer code, code switching, dog whistles, watermelon. There are many ways to say what you want to say without saying it directly. Code is everywhere. It’s words that are new.

Male birds grow colorful plumage to signal to females their vigor and vitality, hoping she’ll choose them to pass along his genes to a new generation. Male birds also perform elaborate rituals, dances, flights, songs. All to attract a mate.

Our DNA codes the very essence of who we are.

We are nothing without code.

Every moment of every day of our lives is one big undertaking of deciphering codes.

Did she say what I think she said? What did she mean by that?

I dreamed about flying. What does that mean?

The traffic light flips from red to green.

The arrow points to the left but has a circle around it and a line through it.

His tone of voice clearly indicated he meant the opposite of what he said.

A smile means the same thing among chimps and humans, unless you show teeth.

A hand gesture in one culture can be complimentary. In another it’s an insult.

Braille might be random bumps to one person but the key to unlocking literature to another.

American Sign Language. Any language. It’s all just code.

Someday we may write to each other solely in emojis. We’re almost there now.

Consider this an ode to code.